The disclosure relates to identifying people in common (PIC) between two users on a social networking platform or service.
On a social network, when a user A visits a user B's profile, user A may be provided with a list of people in common between user A and user B. Based on the list of people in common, user A can determine whether user B is the person he or she knows. The more people in common, the more likely that user B is the correct person user A knows of and not someone who has a name in common with user B. Additionally, a list of people in common on a social network may allow users on the social network to discover common acquaintances that may otherwise have not been found. Connections that are access controlled, may not be included in a list of people in common, and/or privacy settings may not be properly respected in an effort to provide a compelling list of people in common to a user.
A social networking system may only include publicly visible connection in finding people in common. For example, user A connects to user B. User C also connects to user B. If the connection of user B to user C is visible to the public, user B is identified as person in common between user A and user C. By focusing only on publicly visible connections, valuable connections may not necessarily be discovered by a user, and enjoyment of the social networking system may be limited.